South Route 1: The Yuping Telpher to Bright Summit Ascent

The Yuping (Jade Screen) Telpher route to Bright Summit is the less recommended route up, because there s more walking and tourists, but it gives the chance to take in the tallest peaks. Yuping Telpher s south station is known as Kind Light Pagoda (Ci Guang Ge) Station. The telpher takes 10 minutes to take visitors up to Yuping Telpher s north station, near Jade Screen Pavilion. This saves 1 hour 15 minutes of walking. Jade Screen Pavilion is an excellent viewing spot.

A short distance from Jade Screen Pavilion, past Welcoming Guest Pine, is Heaven s Capital. This peak is a steep climb (an estimated 1 hour 30 minutes to-the-top-and-back diversion, not counting breaks), but the views and rock formations near the summit, not to mention fewer tourists (deterred by its steepness), make it worthwhile. The busiest place on the mountain must be around the famous Welcoming Guest Pine (between Yuping Telpher Station and Heaven s Capital), where tourists from all over China take it in turns to have their photo taken with this well-known tree.

The route from Jade Screen Pavilion to Bright Summit is very busy in peak times, which makes the narrow paths slow going. Tour guides with megaphones interrupt the eerie stillness of the mountainside. The path offers another diversion (1 hour 30 minutes) off to the highest summit, LotusPeak, before reaching Bright Summit. LotusPeak was closed recently (August 09), due to footpath repairs and because tourist numbers were too high.